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Cryptids and Myths Wiki:Project CryptoResources/Patagonian sloth/"More about Neomylodon," Natural Science (April 1899)
More about Neomylodon THE pieces of the skin of Neomylodon collected by Dr. Otto Nordenskjöld have been turned to good account by Dr. Einar Lönnberg, of Upsala, who has just issued a detailed description of them in the report of the Swedish expedition to the south of Patagonia."On some Remains of Neomylodon listai, Ameghino, brought home by the Swedish Expedition to Tierra del Fuego, 1896," Svenska Exped. Magellansland, ii. pp. 149-170, pls. xii.-xiv. Stockholm, 1899. Dr. Nordenskjöld took his specimen when the piece of skin was about 1•5 metres in length—it is now only half a metre square. He was also the first to explore the cave scientifically (in 1896), and there he found the sheath of a claw which might very well belong to a large ground-sloth. Unfortunately, however, there was not a trace of the bones of the animal. Dr. Lönnberg considers that Neomylodon was an animal of the approximate size of a small rhinoceros, or one of the Pampean mylodons ; and this leads him to conclude that the living animal stated to have been seen in Patagonia by Lista, and compared to an Indian pangolin, must have been a totally different creature, and not, as Ameghino supposes, identical with Neomylodon.Heuvelmans notes that "this does not necessarily follow, since even a rhinoceros is no bigger than a calf at one stage of its existence." (On the Track of Unknown Animals, 1955) That the latter was a relative of Mylodon, and not a cousin of the glyptodonts and armadillos, is considered by Dr. Lönnberg to be practically certain. Not only are the dermal ossicles akin to, although apparently to a certain extent different from, those of Mylodon, but the claw is of a mylodont, as distinct from the glyptodont type. With regard to the hair, Dr. Lönnberg considers that in his specimen the outer sheath has in each case been removed, and that only the core remains. And he is thus led to believe that a very close analogy exists between the hair of the Patagonian animal and that of the sloths. If, as he is inclined to think probable, some of the hairs of the former were coated with an alga, there would seem undoubted evidence of bradypodine affinity in this respect. But before the theory that the hairs in their present condition are nothing more than cores be definitely accepted, it would be wise to wait and see what Mr. Smith Woodward has to say on the subject. Apparently Dr. Lönnberg is of opinion that Neomylodon is generically distinct from Mylodon, and also that it has now probably ceased to exist. After mentioning that it might possibly have escaped the notice of the scattered white population of Patagonia, he adds that "it is absolutely impossible to think that this animal, if it was still among living beings, could have eluded the sharp eyes of the native Indians. Even if it had exclusively nocturnal habits, and hid itself during the daytime in the most desolate places, the hunting Indians must have come across it now and then, and they must certainly have observed its tracks, its traces where it had broken off branches and twigs when feeding, its scratchings or diggings in the earth, its excrements, etc."Heuvelmans again: "This opinion is all the more surprising since Ameghino had already noted the Tehuelche's tales about the animal." (On the Track of Unknown Animals, 1955) In all the above there is doubtless much of truth ; but, on the other hand, it must be remembered that a very large proportion of the naturalists who saw Dr. Moreno's specimen were inclined to regard it as of very recent origin indeed. And if the creature has been alive a few years ago, there is a strong probability that it still survives. With regard to its generic distinction from the mylodonts of the Pampean, it may be mentioned that many of these lives on to a comparatively late epoch, and also that most, if not all, of the modern genera of armadillos were already in existence during the Pampean period. This being so, it does seem, prima facie, somewhat strange that Neomylodon should be entirely of post-Pampean origin, more especially if it is now either extinct or on the verge of becoming so. Notes Category:Project CryptoResources Category:Project CryptoResources/Patagonian ground sloth